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Tuesday, August 30, 2016

ARC Review: Override by SJD Peterson

From The Blurb:

Don’t judge a book by its cover….

At over six feet, with a body honed in the gym, auto worker Donavan Gregory is used to people assuming he’s a dominant top. Unfortunately, they’re wrong, and Donavan’s desire to explore his submissive side goes unfulfilled.

Smaller and older than Donavan, Doctor Seth Manning might not look like a typical dominant, but when the two men meet at Pride, Donavan realized Seth might be his perfect counterpart. The trouble is, Donavan doesn’t have as much experience with the BDSM world as he’d like. What could an educated, handsome, and confident man like Seth possibly see in someone like him? Seth must convince him that despite the differences on the surface, when it comes to kinky fun and discovery, they’ll fit together just fine.

Karen's rating:

What I was expecting and what I got...not the same thing. Interestingly enough the first line of the blurb for this book is "Don't judge a book by it's cover..." can I just say "How totally appropriate this is." because based on the title and the cover I was expecting something a little darker, edgier, grittier with maybe a little more angst...not what I got. Now am I bothered by this...not really because I still got to read a really good story one that I totally enjoyed.

So now you know what I was expecting let me tell you about what I got. I got a story about two men looking for what most of us look for at some point in our lives...someone we can connect too, feel complete with...you guessed it 'the L word'. Donavan is a big guy. He's tall and hours in the gym and working in a factory have given him a pretty impressive set of muscles...he's totally a dominant...not...and that's his problem people look at him and assume he's a take charge sort of guy. At least that's what most people assume, not so much with Seth.

Seth is older, smaller and more than willing to take charge. He knows what he wants and he usually gets it. One look at Donavan and Seth wants...wants so many things that he thought were beyond even him. Things that he'd buried his hope for long ago, but Donavan's re-ignited that hope and Seth is sure that what he and Donavan could have together would complete them both if he can just make Donavan see himself the way Seth does.

I have to admit stories like this can be so hit or miss for me and as much as I like this author initially I was leery about how this would go. Somewhere around 40% I was pretty sure I needed more story with my sex so for me the first part of the book was maybe 3 stars at best but I was determined to have faith and as I kept reading I found my story. It wasn't the one I was expecting but it turned out to be one that I enjoyed none the less. I realized that I was really invested in these two men. I was totally enjoying them together. There were no huge stumbling blocks, over the top misunderstandings or long drawn out angst-fest. Instead what I found was a sweet story about two men exploring a mutual attraction and discovering a bond that was strong enough to build a life together on. There was still lots of sex and while it was definitely on the rough side at times there was always an underlying sweetness to it because it went from sex with caring to sex with love.

One of the things that drew me in with this story was that the emotional growth wasn't forced and didn't feel like it was being shoved at me. Seth and Donavan's feelings for each other were just there, they evolved as a natural part of the story as the relationship progressed. What started out as a mutual attraction and a bit of insta-lust progressed to mutual caring and finally to love. In some ways it was a bit on the fast side but it felt right and with these two men it worked. Mostly because it was more on Seth's side and Seth's nature was such that he wasn't a procrastinator he was the type of man who knew what he wanted when he saw it and went after it. While Donavan took a little more time to think things over. He wasn't necessarily more hesitant to commit to the relationship, but he was slower to admit to how he truly felt.

'Override' is the first book in SJD Peterson's new series 'The Underground Club' and was an unexpectedly low angst, sweet and not the sugary shoot-me-now kind of sweet but a heartwarming and enjoyable kind that also introduces us to some wonderful secondary characters from Donavan and Seth's awesome parents to the MCs that will be in book #2 which I am definitely looking forward to along with holding onto the hope that some of the the other characters from this first book will appear in later stories because like Donavan I really want to know what's going on between Cain, Donavan's best friend and Seth's cousin, Tristan. There's definitely more than meets the eye happening there and Seth's twin brothers, Samuel and Christopher also offer some interesting potential.

So maybe 'Override' wasn't quite the story that I was expecting but it was definitely a story that I enjoyed and made this a series that I look forward to continuing.

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A copy of 'Override' was graciously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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